Free. It is a buzz word.

And we Christians like using it – a lot.

We enjoy saying that the gospel of salvation through Jesus is ‘free’.  Yet, is it really ‘free’?

Perhaps the gospel is not free…perhaps it actually cost something?

Frank Emanuel, one of our Canadian brothers, recently wrote a thought provoking piece on this issue. Below is a teaser – read it and then navigate over to his “Freedom Log” site for the full article.

What is Free about the Gospel?

Driving around I saw a church sign that said: “The gospel is free, you just need to receive it.” Clearly free is not a good descriptor here. If it was free then you end up with a universalism which I’m sure is not the intent of the little Baptist church with that sign. So what is free about the gospel?

I actually think the opposite – the gospel is costly.

Not only does it cost receiving it – hardly a passive action. It involves investing your whole life into. Perhaps what bugs me about the free statement is that it promises something it cannot really deliver. What does it mean to receive the gospel? Does it mean some intellectual nod of the head at what God did with little following implications? That hardly fits with any evangelical doctrines of salvation I know about. I’m not advocating a works here – but rather a responsibility. The gospel isn’t free, it will demand our whole lives. It is costly.